Link Validation Help

I have gone through my course and all the links are working. However, I have over 1000 messages about links when I check the Link Validation. Most of them repeat such as:

1. Links to other courses in this resource may not be accessible by the students in this course: I have deleted all other course materials, assignments, quizzes, files, etc. How do I fix this now? Is there something hidden that I can't see on my end? Is there an HTML code I need to change? This message appears on assignments and quizzes.

2. 196447?wrap=1 This is pointing to a file that is not in this course. I checked both files and assignments. It just isn't there for me to delete. What do I do?

3. Deleted Content referenced in this resource. I copied the URL from your Canvas site that instructs about technical issues. How do I fix this so it isn't showing as "deleted content?" If it is deleted and a new URL is in its place, why am I receiving this message?

4. 59643#LOCATIONO I have no idea what this means. It links to a worksheet on the validator but is correct in the lesson. How do I fix this?

Thanks so much!

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Instructional Designer

Accepted answers

JeffCampbell

For #1, when doing the Link Validation, it should say which page has the bad link. This message often pops up when the content is linking to content in another course. This can happen when a single page (say Page 1) is copied from Course A to Course B. The links all point to another page (Page 2) in Course A. If Page 2 is then copied to Course B, the links in Course B Page 1 does not automatically update and will continue to point to Course A Page 2. That link will need to be updated correctly.

Now, if both are in a module, and the entire module is copied to Course 2, the links should automatically update correctly. The system, when a collection of content is copied, should update all relevant links that point to items in that collection. This also means associated files get copied too, along with correctly linking to those files. Generally, when I copy any single item, I find myself having to update links in the course being copied too. If the entire course copies with these bad links, then it is possible that the above scenario happened at some point and the links were never corrected.

What you were typing for #2 appears to have cut off mid sentence, but I've usually seen something similar when a file does not copy properly when exporting/importing courses. One solution can be to go into the prior course and download the file from Files, then import into the current one. This will require updating any items that link to it. One possible cause is when content is copied from the page in one course to the page in another rather than using the Copy To option.

It is possible that #3 is related some copying like the others, but harder to say just from that message. If there are links to the deleted content, and new content was added to replace, then the links need to be updated to point to that new content.

I am unsure about #4, but would recommend going to the link in question. Remove/Unlink it, save, then edit it to point the link to the file again. Check Link Validator again to see if that removes the error.

Actually, that last item is something you can test any time you find an error in Link Validator but the content is behaving properly. Unlink, then relink. If the old link is bad, the new link may help remove the error. Try some of the above and report back if they did or did not fix things. If not, maybe we can find a solution that does work.

All comments

JeffCampbell

ChrystalHallam

Thank you. I will try those solutions.

CallieAlreza

I also had this problem when I was new to Canvas. To solve this problem, don't put assignment links directly. Get an app first, enter the right Consumer Key, and voila! The error is solved.

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